For example, a torque converter is provided on an apparatus such as an automotive vehicle provided with an automatic transmission. The torque converter includes, for example, a pump impeller, a turbine runner, and a stator wheel. The pump impeller connected to a crankshaft of an engine is capable of transmitting power of the engine to the turbine runner connected to an input shaft of the transmission via an operating fluid.
The stator wheel includes, for example, an outer shell, an inner core, and a plurality of stator blades interposed between the outer shell and the inner core. The stator wheel regulates a direction of an operating fluid returning from the turbine runner to the pump impeller to a predetermined direction, so that amplification of power of the engine and improvement of capacity performance of the torque converter are enabled.
JP 2006-105282A (Reference 1) and JP 2010-190273A (Reference 2) are examples of the related art.
The stator wheel is often manufactured by a die-casting method which moves a metal die in an axial direction of the stator wheel. In this case, for example, the stator blades are set so as to be prevented from overlapping each other in the axial direction of the stator wheel because the metal die is moved in the axial direction of the stator wheel. Therefore, for example, the length, the number, and the shape of the stator blades may become restricted.